Octons are a fierce warrior race of octopus men equally at home on land or in water.
Octons keep growing as they age and are able to wield as many weapons as possible in tentacles equal to their HD in whatever combination they favor. (ex: A mighty 5 HD Octon could have a lt crossbow, Two-handed sword and shield in it's tentacles or possibly 5 swords)
Octons regenerate 1 hp per round unless they are slain.
Due to their strange alien minds Octons of 4HD can utilize magical items allowed to clerics, those of 5HD can utilize magic items useable by clerics or mages (no more then 1 magical item will be used in a round).
Octons are difficult to surprise and are able to camouflage themselves well so as to surprise others easily.
Octons sense are extraordinary within 60' they have infravision, can see invisible 50% of the time and detect illusions 33% of the time.

Octon Armor (one piece of armor doesn't slow an octon but 2 or more reduces movement to 20')
Helmet +2 to AC
Tentacle Bracers +2 to AC (for whole set)
Each shield is an additional +1 to AC

Common Octon Weapons
Dagger, Spear, Light Crossbow, Heavy Crossbow, Shortsword, Sword, Two Handed Sword, Trident(Polearm).
Octons are able to engage in melee combat and reload a crossbow simultaneously as long as they have enough free tentacles to do so.

I agree with the assessments of others the BFRPG hasn't gotten a lot of attention in the blog-o-verse.
It was among the first of the retro-clones and is a very playable RPG for dungeon and wilderness adventures of all sorts. I myself used it as the rules base for a campaign that used B2, Temple of Elemental Evil and Rappan Athuak modules and it held up well.

It always been linkable here on this blog and can be found at the top of and my links section. It's free and has a heap of support materials written expressly for it. If you enjoy old school games and haven't given it a look, go do so.

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

As mentioned last post my original copy of B2 has notes in the back for Hunter and Healers two
classes I added to the game when I was 13. I have incomplete
recollection and notes for these two classes but have them reworked here
for use with the Basic Fantasy RPG. Here for this post is the Healer as
true to my old time B2 roots as I can recall without borrowing from
other editions.

Healer
Level................Exp Points.........Hit Dice..............Soothe...........Healing
1.......................1,250.................1d6.......................20%.............40%, cure light wounds (1d6+1)
2.......................2,500.................2d6.......................25%.............45%, remove fear
3.......................5,000.................3d6......................30%..............50%, remove paralysis
4.......................10,000..............4d6......................35%...............55%, remove deafness
5.......................20,000...............5d6......................40%..............60%, cure serious wounds (2d6+2)
6.......................40,000...............6d6......................45%..............63%, cure poison
7.......................80,000...............7d6......................50%..............66%, remove blindness
8......................120,000...............8d6......................55%.............69%, remove domination/charm
9......................160,000...............9d6......................60%.............72%, cure critical wounds (3d8+3)
10....................240,000...............9d6+1.................65%..............75%
11.....................320,000...............9d6+2..................70%............78%, cure petrification
12.....................400,000...............9d6+3..................72%............81%
13....................500,000...............9d6+4......................74%..........82%, cure insanity
14....................600,000...............9d6+5......................76%..........83%
15....................700,000...............9d6+6......................78%..........84%
16....................800,000...............9d6+7......................80%..........85%
17....................900,000...............9d6+8......................82%..........86%,cure lycanthropy
18...................1,000,000.............9d6+9......................84%..........87%
19...................1,100,000.............9d6+10......................86%.........88%
20 ..................1,200,000.............9d6+11......................88%.........90%, Raise Dead
Healers are magical healers of wounds that do so through deep empathic connections with others.
Healers wear no armor but may use any melee weapon they dare use to protect themselves and their patients. Healers may use magic items as a Cleric does. Healers use the Clerics saving throw table and the Magic-Users attack chances.Soothe- due to the mellow vibes they emanate all but the most hateful of evil beings may be calmed down by a healer. A successful use of this skill causes the target to reduce it's reaction type by one category. Only one attempt per encounter may be made no matter how many healers in a group.Healing- empathic healing is difficult and certain healing can only bee done at the level indicated. Healing may be done safely 3 times a day. Each attempt after the third requires the healer to make a save vs death or suffer the ailment of their patient (if they made the healing roll or not). Healers may heal themselves but this can of course be dangerous.
It takes a healer One Full Turn to apply Healing.

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

My original copy of B2 has notes in the back for Hunter and Healers two classes I added to the game when I was 13. I have incomplete recollection and notes for these two classes but have them reworked here for use with the Basic Fantasy RPG. Here for this post is the Hunter as true to my old time B2 roots as I can recall without borrowing from other editions.

Hunter
Level...........Exp Points..........Hit Dice..........Tracking........Snares.........Stalking
1..................0..........................1d6.................25%................15%...............18%
2..................1,850...................2d6.................30%................20%...............21%
3..................3,500...................3d6.................35%................25%...............24%
4..................7,000...................4d6.................40%................30%...............27%
5..................15,000.................5d6.................45%................35%...............30%
6..................30,000.................6d6.................50%................40%...............33%
7..................60,000.................7d6.................55%................45%...............36%
8..................120,000...............8d6.................60%................50%...............39%
9..................240,000...............9d6.................65%................55%...............42%
10................360,000...............9d6+2.............70%................60%...............45%
11................480,000...............9d6+4.............75%................65%...............48%
12................600,000...............9d6+6.............80%................70%...............51%
13................720,000...............9d6+8.............85%................75%...............54%
14................840,000...............9d6+10...........90%................80%...............57%
15................960,000...............9d6+12...........91%................85%...............60%
16................1,080,000............9d6+14...........92%................90%...............63%
17................1,200,000............9d6+16...........93%................90%...............66%
18................1,320,000............9d6+18...........94%................90%...............69%
19................1,440,000............9d6+20...........95%................90%...............72%
20................1,560,000............9d+22.............96%................90%...............75%
Hunters include big game hunters, poachers, fur trappers,foresters and bounty hunters. Their main trade is locating and taking prey in the outdoors.
The prime requisite for hunters is Wisdom, learning and understanding the ways of the wilderness and all it's beasts are tantamount to a hunters success.
Hunters may use Leather armor and Chain mail but are not trained in effective use of the shield. They are proficient with missile weapons, handaxes, clubs, daggers, spears and shortswords. Hunters may use magical items useable by fighters with the weapon and armor exceptions retained.
Hunters attack and make saves as a Fighter does. Tracking is the ability to find and follow tracks left by the passage of others. A new roll is needed at any crossing point or change in terrain.Snares is the ability to locate, set and release snares. A snare is a pit designed to capture prey. The chance of settign the snare is also the chance of the snare capturing prey. if a creature of the higher level then the hunter wanders into a snare it may save vs paralysis to avoid capture. Large prey will only be held for 1-4 turns. Man sized prey for 3-18 turns and small prey indefinitely. Snares can be made to harm prey but the chance is reduced by 10% for each 1d6 of damage.
It takes1 turn to setup a snare. Others detect and disarm snares as they do traps.Stalking is the chance to follow prey unseen in the wilds and close within 60'. Any prey they have stalked up upon is considered surprised. Hunters may use their stalking roll to hide as well. Hunters may not use this ability if within a party of non-hunters within 240' unless they are all elves and or halflings.

The chances for Tracking, Snares and Stalking are for wilderness adventuring, in dungeons or in an urban environment chances are halved.

Monday, January 21, 2013

On Mog magic is magic. There is no cosmic segregation in the magics that may be cast by wicked sorcerers or called upon by saintly high priests. what differs beyond those of different classes is the approach they take to the craft of magic. Magicians learn power words and incantations that allow them to directly manipulate magical energies. Acolytes learn prayers and meditations that give them access to divine spirits that allow them to work magic. Zealots in their passions tap directly into divine energies that allow them to work magic.

Spell-Casters of all classes are limited as to how powerful a spell they may cast.
Caster Level....Maximum Spell Level
1 or 2........ 1 st
3 or 4........ 2nd
5 or 6........ 3rd
7 or 8........ 4th
9 or 10...... 5th
11 or 12.... 6th
13 or 14.... 7th
15 or 16.... 8th
17 or 18... 9th

Readying Spells
A magician may ready all spells by spending as many hours as the highest level spell studying a grimoire or spending one hour per spell level depending on memory.
Acolytes must learn spells and acquire them from divine agents. see http://aeonsnaugauries.blogspot.com/2009/09/clerical-spell-acquisiton-mechanic.html
Zealots learn spells from holy writings and divine agents and once learnedthey are never completely forgotten.

Spell Casting

Spell casting is a variant fo the Pars Fortuna rules. Magicians work as described within those rules.
Acolytes must deal with divine intermediaries to gain access to their spells but do not risk the harm Magicians do when casting spells, but they may find the spells refused.

Acolyte spells are successfully cast based on the reaction of divine patrons.
Acolyte Spell Casting Success
Roll 2d6: add CHA bonus and apply faith based modifiers.
2 or less... spell not cast and removed by divine agencies. -1 penalty to future casting. Roll magical failure consequences check.
3 or 4..... spell not cast
5 to 7.... spell cast successfully but removed by divine agencies or magical stresses
8 or more.. .Spell Cast Successfull.
(A die roll of 2 1's always causes the spell to be lost but other consequences do not follow unless
the total score is 2 or less)

The spells of Zealots always work but they risk much for channeling divine energies. They must roll on the Consequences of Magical Failure Table each time they cast due to how they expose their mortal frames and eternal souls to cosmic powers.
1st spell cast in a day has a -4 adjustment to the roll
2nd spell in a day has a -3 adjustment to the roll
3rd and 4th spells have a -2 adjustment to the roll
further spells have no adjustment.

Meat Pottage,bowl 3 cfg pottage with a notable presence of meat. better the meat the fewer and smaller the pieces
Bean/Pea Pottage,bowl 2 cfg pottage thickened with a goodly portion of beans and or peas
Common Pottage, bowl 1 cfg whatever is boiled in a pot
Thin Pottage, bowl 2 imi whatever is boiled in a pot mostly water and greens

Best Cakes and Sweets 5 bpy
2nd best Cakes and Sweets 2 bpy
3rd best Cakes and Sweets 3 cfg

Sleep in A private Room by Self 1 zgr, get a bed and room to yourself
Sleep in A private Room 2 cfg, share a bed with up to 2 other people
Sleep in a Barracks 1 cfg, get a bunk space , may have to share a bunk
Sleep in a common room 3 imi, sleep on the floor or on a table in a nominally heated room
Sleep in stables 2 imi
Extra Fuel For Room 4 imi
A Candle or Lamp to read by 3 imi/night
Bundle of Thevish Weed 2 zgr, aromatic to cleanse the air of a room and a light delousing

Player Characters in/on Mog will have skills allotted to them by class and as selected at character creation.

All PCs will start with 10 skill points and will earn 3 additional skill points per level after 1st level.
Skill points may be saved by the character and need not be spent.
A player character may only advance skills by one rank per level (may not go from unskilled to legendary all at once by spending skill points).
At character creation a player may spend 3 points to be an Expert in skill as an exception to the rule above.

Costs above are listed per rank. One must be Skilled before they spend 3 points to become expert, and one would have to be a Grand Master before they could be Legendary for 16 additional skill points.

Some skills can only be learned by studying with a Master.

Languages.
characters begin play speaking common and a racial language. Language is a skill that allows a character to learn additional languages in play.
Only Acolytes and Magicians start play literate, other must pay 2 skill points.

When on adventuring upon or within Mog thieves, raiders, and peddlers will come across a wide variety of money and what matters most is the type of metal the coins are forged with. The variety is wide enough and the access to ancient hoards discovered in The Undercity of Mog recirculates almost forgotten coinages.

Coins will be mentioned by their primary metallic composition but the purity varies from source to source and not all coins hold their value from place to place.

For Reference:
A bronze groat (zgr) will buy 3 pints, a roll and a bowl of common fare at a common house.
Adventurers will start with 3d6x10 ssk

For Quick Conversion.
Coins of same class and metal with no local conversion will be valued at 80%
Coins of same class and lower metal with no local conversion will be valued at 20%
Coins of same type and lower metal with no local conversion will be valued at 33%
Coins of same class and higher metal with no local conversions will be valued at 150%
Coins of same type and higher metal with no local conversions will be valued at 200%
If a locality has 2 coins of same class always use the lower valued one for converting foreign coin.

Examples:
A bronze shekel will buy 33% of what a silver shekel would in the midlands.
A Bronze Star will buy but 20% of what a silver shekel would in the midlands.
A gold leopard will buy 80% of what a gold lion would in the midlands
A golden ell will buy 150% of what an elect rum eagle would in the midlands
A Golden Eagle would buy 200% of what an electrum eagle would in the midlands.

In the midlands if dealing with 100 coins or more a money changer will charge 2% for converting to same metal or lower, or 5% for converting to higher metal. There is no extra charge for dealing with under 100 coins but many a money changer will charge a 2 bpy as a base fee for a customer per visit.

Attack rolls and saving throws are made with d20's on Mog as they are in most of D&Dish games.

Other tasks that require dice to resolve will have chance in a dx if being resolved. The more skilled someone is the more dice they will roll.

For common tasks a d6 is assigned.,with progressively difficult tasks requiring a large die.

Ability scores may modify the base chance per die if one has a notable score in a relevant ability.

Abilit modifiers for Tasks
3 or less -2 chance modifier
4-6 has a -1 chance modifier
7 to 14 there is no chance modifier
15-17 there is a +1 chance modifier
18-20 there is a +2 chance modifier
21+ there is a +3 chance modifier.

Skills are ranked by degree:
Unskilled (no need to record)- 1 die may be rolled (if allowed at all by clever description and DM discretion)
Skilled- 2 dice may be rolled.
Expert- 3 dice may be rolled
Master- 4 dice may be rolled
GrandMaster- 5 dice may be rolled
Legendary- 6 dice may be rolled

Success: for many action a task is successful if a single die rolled is within the chance given.
for some tasks the total of successful rolls may be applied to determine degree of success.
for some tasks successful rolls may add to the success score until a threshold is reached in others if the threshold isn't reached there is still failure.
roll vs roll- success points will be added and the contestant with highest total wins. Most head to head tests have an even chance.

Ex1: Bruggar the Boss has a STR of 18 and wants to kick open a Latched door. The DM sets the base chance at 2 in 8. so the Bruggar's player must roll a 4 or less on 1d8 to open the door.

Ex2: Ned The Noisome wants to sneak up on a Morlock Sentry. Ned is an Expert at Sneaking. It's dark (an advantage for a Morlock) and there isn't a lot of cover so the DM sets the chance to 1 in 10 with wits being more important than nimbleness. Ned has modifier as his Wis is 11. Ned's player will roll 3d10 and will sneak up on the Morlock in any of the three dice come up a 1.

Ex3: Britt the Hag is brewing a healing potion. She's a Master of Medicines and working in her home. She is following a known formula so the chance of success is 4 in 6. Modified by +1 becasue of her INT of 17 so she has a 5 in 5 for success. Crafting items requires a total score be reach on the successes; Britt is tryign for a 4th level healing potion so she must get 16 points worth of success. Britt will roll 4d6. If britt rolls a 2,4,5, and a 6 she has 11 points of success; she can keep working at it unless all her rolls fail she will eventually complete the potion.

Ex4: Ned the Noisome is picking a very difficult lock. The DM has assigned 3in12 with a total of 6 required. Ned has nimble fingers (Dex of 16) and may ass one to the chance giving him a 4in12 and since he is an Expert Lock Picker he may roll 3d12 to attempt to open the lock adding up his successes. Poor Ned rolled a 2, 3 and 11 getting only 5 points of success. He can try again but can't add his previous success to picking the lock

Ex5: Bruggar (Str 18) and Ned(Str 14) are arm wrestling. Bruggar is a skilled Athlete, Ned isn't.
the base chance is 3 in 6. Bruggar's chance is improved to 5in6 and Ned is still 3 in 6. Bruggar can roll 2d6 and Ned but 1d6. Bruggar can lose if he fails with both dice or doesn't beat Ned's score (which is 3 at best). Bruggar rolls a 1 and 6, Ned rolls a 1. They tie so the arm wrestling continues.
Bruggar rolls a 3 and 4, Ned rolls a 3 and is still soundly beaten by Brugar.

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Doors get an awful lot of attention in D&D. They do present a barrier at the threshold to what lies beyond of course but the handling of doors in the original game is a bit...boring and really shapes the game in an odd way. All doors stick shut requiring a roll to force open if not pegged so as to stay open and all monsters can pass such "stuck" doors without challenge.

I'm not going to promote equal treatment of pcs and monsters here, what am doing is pointing out the ever present stuck door is boring and a play barrier. Such stuck doors should be a feature of a dungeon or dungeon level not everywhere.

Unstick those doors let PCs walk on thru when not barred or locked. It increases mobility and makes it easier to trick players with door traps once they get a little careless.

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

D&D and it's cousins are about exploring. One must explore to find out what/who you have to kill if they can't be conned out of their loot.

Sure there's lots of rules about combat even in the original rules which has monster as mostly lists of combat stats, that's becasue the game wouldn't be as much fun if we spent half an hour shouting "I Killed the Balrog","No you didn't ","Yes I did"...

Monday, January 7, 2013

Critical Hits: Any attack roll of 20 that could hit on a roll of 18 or better is a critical.
On melee attacks add the attackers STR to the damage.
On ranged attack add the attackers DEX to the damage.
On Magical attacks with hit rolls add the attackers CHA to the damage.
Some targets will not suffer criticals from some attacks.

At Zero HP a combatant is incapacitated and may be revived. They will revive by themselves in 1-12 hours. Any healing magic revives.
A combatant must roll on the Table of Woe when they are reduced to their level or lower in negative HP. Additional wounds suffered while at negative HP total modify the roll on the Table of Woe.

Binding Wounds. If one has clean bandages on hand they may spend an entire turn binding wounds to regain one Hit Die in Hit Points.

Initiative: We are using rolling round robin initiative. Players take turns rolling initiative each round moving left from DM or starting with a point man declared by players, personal mods are applied to the roll (going into a fight with a clumsy oaf on your side can be a bad thing)
We are also using a weapon speed factor. If the initiative score for a round is under the WSF of your weapon in hand you attack with -4 to hit. If drawing a weapon in a round (and attacking) subtract the WSF from your chance of hitting additionally.

Parrying: High DEX does not constantly improve AC, a combatant may choose to parry/dodge to gain a benefit of high dexterity but in doing so they loose access to their normal attacks in a round.
Missile weapons may be parried at any range with a shield. You may only dodge range attacks made from long range or dodge any attack if you have partial cover.
DEX
3...... parry +1 to AC
4-6.... parry +2 to AC
7-14...parry +3 to AC
15-17...parry +4 to AC
18-20...parry +5 to AC
21+.... parry +6 to AC

Turtling: if one has a medium or large shield they may hide behind their shield gaining their parry bonus to AC and +2 additional points. Fighters lose the riposte when turtling. You can protect a buddy with a large shield.

Fighting with a weapon in each hand: changes the attack roll to a d16 for primary hand and d12 for off hand. (Note no crits are being scored here)

Shields May be Splintered. Sacrifice your shield to ignore up to your STR score in damage from an attack in a round. (borrowed from elsewhere)

Helms may be split: A character may sacrifice a helmet just as shields above but a d6 roll is required. on a 5 or more the damage is blocked. On a die roll of 1 you've been knocked out. Magical helmets apply their bonus to the roll.

Sundering Arms: you can destroy an opponents weapons. Make an attack roll with a d16, on a hit roll a d6. On a 1 drop your weapon. On a 4 or more your opponent must save or their weapon is destroyed. If their weapon is magical with a higher bonus...oops your weapon is broken instead. This same rule is used for attacking tentacles or other monster parts.

Ranged Attack Rolls: short range attack rolls are made with a normal d20 roll, medium range with d16, and long range with d12.Spell Casting and initiative:
Most spells go off at 1/2 initiative count. ex: if initiative for the round is 9 the spell goes off on count 4. Spells with multiple rounds to cast go off at end of round.
If a caster is damaged before the spell goes off the spell can't be cast this round.

The warrior types for Mog include the Fighter, Hunter, and the Assassin.

Fighter
Hit Dice: 1d12 per level (+3 at 1st level)
Attack Bonus: +2 at 1st level, increase by +1 each even level. (+2 at 1st to +11 at 18th)
Weapons: Any, 1st three fights with a new or rusty weapon are made with 1d16.
Armor: Any
Parry Bonus: Fighters with a Dex of 13 or higher get a +1 bonus to Ac when Parrying.
Sweep the Rabble: A fighter may divide damage among any number of adjacent opponents with less then 2 HD. This is of decided benefit when burning HP.
Additional Attacks: Fighters may get an additional attack at 6th,12th and 18th level.
Riposte: A fighter gets an immediate extra attack against any foe that rolls a 1 to hit them in melee combat. At 9th level they may riposte against any foe that rolls a 1 or 2. The Riposte is made immediately but may still suffer situational penalties.

Hunter
Hit Dice: 1d8 per level (+1 at 1st level)
Attack Bonus +1 at 1st level, increasing by +1 every 3rd level (+1 a 1st to +7 at 18th)
Weapons: Any 3 weapons. Gain a new weapon at 2nd and every 4 levels afterward.
Armor: light and medium , also shields
Skills: At 1st level Hunters are Skilled at Tracking and Sneaking
Swift Feet: at 4th,10th, and 16th level a Hunter increases speed by 10' a round when on foot and unencumbered or on a trained mount.
Sure Shot: If a hunter spends an entire round aiming at prey they have a % chance equal to level of getting a critical hit on any attack roll.

Assassin
Hit Dice: 1d10 (+2 at 1st level)
Attack Bonus: +1 at 1st level, increasing by +1 every 3rd level (+1 at 1st to +7 at 18th)
Weapons: Any 4 weapons. Gain a new weapon each level.
Armor: Any Light or Medium.
Skills: At 1st Level Assassins are Skilled at Sneaking,Climbing, and Hiding
Back Stab: Whenever attacking from surprise, or from behind on a man-like foe the Assassin does additional damage: +1d6 at levels 1-2/+2d6 at levels 3-8/+3d6 at levels 9-17/+4d6 at 18th level
Unarmed Strikes: The Assassin is a living weapon they may strike withotu weapons and still inflcit telling damage. 1d4 at level 1-2/ 1d6 at levels 3-6/ 1d8 at levels 7-12/ 1d10 at levels 13-17/ 1d12 at 18th level. Some creatures are dangerous to strike with unarmed attacks.
Additional Attacks: Assassins may get an additional attack at 6th,12th and 18th level.

Here is a simple variant to burn abstract Hit Points in melee combat I'll be using in my Undercity of Mog campaign.

A PC/NPC/Monster may sacrifice HP to inflict extra HP on a foe. Before damage ir or the to hit roll is rolled the combatant should announce they are burning HP so as to inflict more damage on a foe on a one to one ratio (if the attack hits).
These burnt hp reflect fatigue, stress, minor nicks, bumps, and scratches suffered while belaboring an opponent in combat. The character burning HP loses them if the attack misses or hits but the target only suffers the additional damage on a hit roll.

No Ac adjustments no change in the to hit chance the player knows exactly what they risk and are putting on the table.

A limit of 3hp per level is suggested for Fighters and 2hp per level for all other classes/monsters. Fighters, Assassins, and Monsters can burn hp into the negatives if they start with a positive hp total... this is of course very dangerous but also provides an opportunity for a defiant dying blow of sorts.

About Me

A RPG player who thinks he has something to share. Discovered wargaming at the age of 9 or so thanks to Avalon Hill. Started playing D&D in the later days of the 70's as one of those annoying kids and currently games with spouse, family and friends.